Famous People with Tremor

Essential Tremor PSA – Alice Cooper (33 seconds)

Do you know someone with Essential Tremor?

Yes! Essential tremor is so common yet non-transparent. Outside of individuals and families afflicted with essential tremor, the public at large is not familiar with the movement disorder or, misjudges the symptom of tremor as being Parkinson’s.

You probably know a neighbor, a co-worker, a service club or faith member, who has essential tremor. If not, you know of the following famous people and otter with essential tremor.

John Adams

John Quincy Adams

Samuel Adams

Magnus Berg

Robert C. Byrd

Oliver Cromwell

John Diefenbaker

“Goldie”

Katharine Hepburn

Joseph McCarthy

Sandra Day O’Connor

Eugene O’Neill

Ozzy Ozbourne

Tim Simpson

Bill Werbeniuk

Adams’ Family Tremor

Medical history draws upon handwriting analysis and historical accounts to reveal that John Quincy Adams and Samuel Adams were afflicted with essential tremor.

In the article Samuel Adams’ Tremor, Dr. Elan Louis, TAN’s medical advisor/contributor, cites the American Revolutionist as “having a tremor that affected his hands, head and voice.”

To learn more about “What is Medical History? visit the Winter 2005 issue of House Call. Dr. George Paulson, author of the publication Illnesses of the Brain in John Quincy Adams, is featured in the quarterly newsletter.

Information on John Adams and John Quincy Adams tremors can be found in John Adams by Paul C. Nagel, and Arguing about Slavery, by William Lee Miller.

Neuroscience for Kids

Neuroscience for Kids provides trivia on “John Adams, 2nd President of the US, and John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the US. Both were born in Braintree, Massachusetts.

Magnus Berg – The Sculptor

Handwriting analysis and examinations of various sculptures account for the recognition that the sculptor Magnus Berg had essential tremor.

Diefenbaker Disease

Dr. Ali Rajput’s extensive research of medical records and Diefenbaker Archives concludes that the 13th Prime Minister of Canada suffered from essential tremor and not Parkinson’s Disease. Dr. Rajput renamed essential tremor Diefenbaker Disease, in honor of the Prime Minister.

Late-Life Action Tremor in Goldie

Goldie the Southern Sea Otter was orphaned off the California coast at the age of 5 weeks. The Monterey Bay Aquarium rescued her, and Goldie lived at the Aquarium until the age of 18. Five years prior, Goldie developed a head tremor, similar to essential tremor patients. Dr. Michael Murray, Goldie’s veterinarian, recorded invaluable information on Goldie’s tremor, which peaked the interest of TAN’s medical contributor, Elan Louis. TAN’s Director, Hokuto Morita, has detailed Dr. Louis’ collaborative study of Goldie’s brain in his article, Animal Tremor: Of Mice and Men and Marine Life, featured in the first issue of The TremorAction.org and Care4Dystonia.org newsletter, Spikes & Spasms.